Despite wacky sleep schedules, fears of gigantic spiders, and beds with hard matresses, most students were up before 6:30. Which is rare for college students who are used to staying up well past midnight and wishing for one more hour of sleep every morning. Breakfast in Tansen consists of eggs, homemade cereal, bread, and buffalo milk (cows are sacred here).
We were split into two groups to tour the hospital. We visited all the wards we will be working in during our stay: medical, surgical, pediatrics. We also had the opportunity to visit the maternity ward and the orthopedic ward. As we walked through the halls many stared, but many also wanted pictures. Westerners are an oddidty in Tansen so we felt famous as Nepali people stopped us to take pictures. During our short tour we experienced many different sights and smells that are different from a Western hospital. The wards consist of one room with beds every three feet, separated by curtains that are rarely used. The smells we encountered are difficult to describe, but ones that with stick with us long after we leave Nepal.
For lunch we were split into three different groups and were assigned different adventures: group one went high, group two stayed in the middle ground, and group three went low. A common food eaten for lunch were a Nepali favorite, MoMos. They are equivalent to potstickers in the U.S., steam dough stuffed with cabbage, onion, and your choice of meat. We returned by 4 pm ready to tell our adventures to the rest of the group. We all enjoy these assignments as it allows us to explore Tansen with more independence and see many of the beautiul sights this city has to offer.
We can not believe it’s only day four and we are excited for all the memories and life changing experiences to come in the next three weeks.
Meghan Manley and Jordan Helmuth 
